United Bird Hunters Incorporated

[chris andrews]

We have created a new field trial organization meant for real hunitng dogs. The following article will come out in the American Field on 28 Jun 08. This organization has a Hunting Dog stake that is on a forward walking course and you harvest the birds with a scorecard. This is meant to take the handler out of the situation and let the dog do the winning. We also host the traditional walking Shooting Dog stake, but our rules say the dog you hunt with will be the same dog you field trial with. These dogs will not be run-offs, but will be a gentlemans walking hunting dog or shooting dog.


United Bird Hunters Author Chris Andrews
UBH is a non-profit, field trial organization dedicated to uniting bird hunters and field trailers to promote a true foot-handled shooting dog and recruit new participants. In the recent past, American Field participants have emphasized style and range above quantity of birds, which wasn’t the intent of pioneer field trailers or bird hunters. The UBH changes the current view of how foot-handled dogs are judged and emphasizes both quantity and quality in our FDSB foot-handled, sanctioned trials. The late Mr. William Brown stated in his book Field Trial (page 117), “Quality and quantity of bird work should receive paramount consideration in the average shooting dogs stake, the intelligence with which the dog searches, the experience denoted in his manner of winding promising cover, the diligence and effectiveness of his efforts, and the excellence of his manners,”.

As co-founders of this organization Roy Clark and I agree with Mr. Brown, and we identified the need for a true foot-handled trial and the need for a bird harvesting field trial that resembles a walking shooting dog stake. Those needs fill the void for enticing new members and recruiting veteran hunters into field trialing. The harvesting field trial receives recognition that will keep people participating after running in just one trial. The need was also addressed that a walking Shooting field trial dog should be the same dog that we hunt with, and that is where we focused our emphasis on developing those standards for our ideal walking shooting dog.

The task at hand was to enormous to go it alone, so we invited: Steve Chang of Colorado, Monty Duncan of Missouri, Ernie Ashby of South Carolina and Rob Yarborough of Kansas to assist us in developing the by-laws, walking shooting dog standards, hunting dog standards, and judging guidelines for each of our stakes. These men put in large amounts of time and effort to develop these guidelines as well as promote the UBH in their local areas. As a group, we received guidance from veteran field judges and trialers, while this isn’t an all inclusive list we wish to thank Bud and Shirley Walters of Texas, Craig Thompson and Harold Woodward of Arkansas.

How does the UBH unite bird hunters and field trailers while increasing participation? We offer two types of trials, subjectively judged Shooting Dog stakes and objectively judged Hunting Dog stakes. The American Field sanctioned, Walking Shooting Dog stakes offer a foot-handled field trial, which will be judged just as pioneer field trial participants and bird hunters intended, quality and quantity. The ideal, walking shooting dog will be an intelligent, classy bird-dog that has numerous finds during a field trial. The UBH ideal walking shooting dog’s range, obedience, style, and hunting manners are defined in our walking Shooting Dog standards and judging guidelines. The dog’s range will represent a gentlemen’s walking shooting dog in range, style, and obedience per our standards.

The Hunting Dog is judged with a scorecard on the same forward course as a walking shooting dog stake, where quantity is the main factor for a placement. The quality of bird work will create separation for dogs with equal numbers of finds, retrieves, and backs. The Hunting Dog stake can be easily identified with by most hunters and is an introduction to field trialing. The UBH Hunting Dog stake has partnered with Quail Unlimited (QU) allowing the stakes to progress to the National QU/UBH Hunting Dog of the year trial. The emphasis on this trial will keep hunters participating while they are viewing the walking shooting dog stakes the same weekend. The hunting dog stake is the “bridge” for hunters and new participants to the traditional field trial.

How will the UBH keep the organization strong? We keep our established walking shooting dog standards and our hunting dog standards from wavering. We work with organizations that promote youth participation in similar recreation events. The UBH also provides insurance coverage organizational wide, this alleviates the need for clubs to have separate insurance coverage. In addition to not needing insurance coverage, the $30 UBH yearly membership fee also includes a yearly membership with QU.

The UBH invites you to host a field trial or join the UBH. For more information, please contact one the following individuals listed below or visit our website: http://www.unitedbirdhunters.com. The website also allows you to view our rules, regulations, by-laws, field trial applications, and membership applications.

Rocky Mnt Region
Steve Chang, Vice President,
godfathergundog@yahoo.com
(303) 549-5168

Central Region
Monty Duncan, Vice President
pointerman4@yahoo.com
(417) 781-0707

Eastern Region
Ernie Ashby, Vice President
ernroe@yahoo.com
(803) 360-7654

[lvrgsp]

Do you have any scheduled trials in the central region yet?

Chip

[chris andrews]

Please contact Monty Duncan about trials. We wil have several trials in the central region this year.

[kninebirddog]

Finally got our memberships sent into today

Here is a link to the United bird hunters membership form

http://www.unitedbirdhunters.com/index. ... &Itemid=65

[kninebirddog]

Qu makes an official news article http://www.qu.org/content/news/press_ro ... cfm?id=691

Quail Unlimited News Article
Quail Unlimited Launches New Field Dog Trials and Championship with United Bird Hunters